Botanical Popup Dinner :: An ode to seasonal plants

Here are some memorable moments from the Botanical Popup Dinner that Chef João Ricardo Alves and I hosted last Friday at A Sociedade. 

It was such a special night! We had the lovely Kckliko team decorating the place with elegant flower and leaves arrangements and Cláudia, the charismatic owner of A Sociedade, taking care of all sorts of details that enriched the experienced, such as little individual paper bags filled with aromatic leaves that the guests were to smell with their eyes closed and connect with our dear, bountiful mother nature. 

The dinner was 100% plant-based and inspired in what was in season. Pumpkin, beetroot, celery, kale, watercress, parsnip, leek, mushrooms, apple, persimmon and chestnuts, they all made it to our plates, combined with herbs and nuts in an Autumnal mood.

The guests were lively and chatty creating an ambience of friendliness and joy during the whole dinner. João, his incredible girlfriend Maria and I did our little magic in the open kitchen and had a blast plating this 4-course meal (plus a surprise amuse bouche). We enjoyed it so much that we might even repeat the feat very soon!

All images captured by A Sociedade.

The First Raw Existence Pop-up Dinner

I've been cooking for and hosting private dinner parties for almost 20 years. I absolutely love doing it! All the prepping, the details, the excitement of having friends around, the joy of seeing everyone having a good time, all this fills my heart!

Hosting my first pop-up dinner, between friends and strangers was just beyond! I certainly felt more pressure and responsibility: I've never been so on time with the food and so organised with the mise en place and the plating! So on time and organised that 30 minutes before the starting I was sitting on the stairway to the house, waiting anxiously for the first guest to arrive, almost as if Santa was coming with presents, while having tiny sips of the night's welcome drink, a Kombucha Bellini.

Bella Vita was the theme for the night. A name borrowed from a surf documentary set in Italy, this dinner was all about Italian food classics: Bellinis, pizza, raviolis, lasagna and of course gelato - all raw, all plant-based!

I'm looking forward to the next one and I hope to see you there!

Raw Existence

I've got news from my kitchen today! I'm hosting a few pop-up dinners during July, all dedicated to raw plant-based cuisine.

Why am I doing this?

Because I love cooking - or non-cooking in this case... if it makes sense! - and I love to have people around here, especially if you enjoy eating, even more if you care about what you eat and how to nourish your body. Also, summer is the perfect season to eat raw, there's so much of the fire element around that eating un-cooked food balances it all out.

Why should you come?

Because this is the opportunity to taste a beautifully crafted raw plant-based menu that will nourish your body and please your sight. Also, the setting, people, the setting is unique! You'll have dinner al fresco, surrounded by nature, and I'll make sure we use our finest silver cutlery just for you.

Check my Events page or send me an email - inthemoodforfood.info@gmail.com - to book your place!

Some fresh news and a recipe

I'm writing this after spending the last weeks f 2016 and the firsts of 2017 at what will be one of if not the coolest places in Southern Sri Lanka, Ceylon Sliders. Ceylon Sliders is THE place for the traveling surfer: right in front of Weligama beach, super stylish rooms and a lovely cafe that opened in the beginning of the year. And thus the reason why I traveled to Sri Lanka and staying here until mid May: to help to get this beautiful cafe up and running! 

Every time I stop and become aware of my life right now I feel completely overwhelmed with so much that changed in such a little time!

It's been a challenge, not only cultural but also logistical. Communicating with and training local staff, sourcing the right ingredients, building an interesting menu that pleases all tastes, all this and more while living in a completely different country and adjusting to a new lifestyle.

At the same time, I'm also investing time in expanding the concept that my friend Maria João and I created, Essenciais. We are so happy with all the positive feedback we've been having from our super exclusive and curated seasonal workshops around conscious nutrition and cooking that we've decided that we want this to be more a part of our lives. 

Our Spring workshop will be in May but in the meantime Maria will be participating in the event Recharge, held at A Sociedade on the 26th of March, in Lisbon. 

While we're building our brand, researching and thinking about how we can serve you better, our minds are constantly in search of new methods to use the medicinal power of plants to promote health in a sustainable way. And that is what brings me to the following recipe.

Gotu kola, or Centella Asiatica, is found abundantly here in Sri Lanka. It's an Ayurvedic medicinal plant known for its powerful stimulation of the brain function alongside with regulating your hormone system, improving circulation and tissue regeneration. When paired with yet another local ingredient, the Pineapple, an impressive tissue, muscle and ligaments anti-inflammatory, makes a dynamic combination towards the dreaded cellulite.  

When coming up a new smoothie recipe, there are 3 things that help keeping in mind: the base, the core and the enhancers. The base is normally a liquid and preferably with nutritional or medicinal properties. In this recipe in particular I'm using green tea for its known antioxidant, brain stimulant and thermogenic effects. The core is what the smoothie is all about, in this case, gotu kola and pineapple. The enhancers, or sometimes seasonings or superfoods, should be used in small quantities. Right now, my elected superfood is Moringa powder. I've been adding it to my smoothies maybe 3 times a week and not more than half a teaspoon. You can also add a bit of a sweetener of your choice, maybe some raw honey, but I've decided to keep it out of this recipe because the pineapple was quite sweet already. 

To sum everything up: it's a great smoothie to boost your good looks and smartness!

Brain and Body Regenerative smoothie (serves 1 big glass)

2 cups of chopped pineapple, peeled, including core
1 cup of fresh gotu kola leaves 1 cup of freshly brewed green tea, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp Moringa powder (optional)
Sprinkle of bee polen (optional)

Blend the first 4 ingredients in a blender. Add the optional if desired and blend lightly again. Serve immediatly with a sprinkle of bee polen.